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Friday, December 2, 2016

Kosovo: President bans sale and distribution of anti-Semitic books

The president of Kosovo has banned the sale and distribution of anti-Semitic literature following a complaint from experts on anti-Semitism, Jewish Business News reported Wednesday.

According to the report, President Hashim Thaci issued the directive after his office was contacted by Ido Daniel, head of the Israeli Students Combating Anti-Semitism activism group.

The government of Kosovo and the European Cooperation Organization had invited Daniel and other experts in anti-Semitism and global terrorism to take part in a conference in the country's capital, Pristina, on combating racism and radicalization. To his shock, while walking through one of the capital's main streets, Daniel noticed that local bookstores were displaying overtly anti-Semitic books, including translations of Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf" in Albanian, one of Kosovo's official languages.

"It turns out that there is a whole industry of anti-Semitic literature translated into Albanian and other languages in the region as part of an organized campaign of incitement against Jews in the Balkans," Daniel said.